Special delivery: US-born panda cub Bao Bao bound for China

The National Zoo in Washington is packing up its American-born panda cub Bao Bao for a one-way flight to China where the three-year-old will eventually join a panda breeding programme.

The cub won’t have to worry about finding overhead bin space or dealing with a talkative seatmate on the 16-hour, non-stop flight from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday. She will be the only panda on the plane, travelling with a keeper and a vet. Her accommodations are first class, too: a special metal crate the size of a double bed she can stretch out in. A sticker on its outside announces its contents: “one panda”.

In preparation for the trip, keepers have a packing list of Bao Bao’s favorite foods including: 55 pounds of bamboo, five pounds of apples and two pounds of sweet potatoes.

“Most of the flight, we hope she’s going to eat,” said panda keeper Marty Dearie, who will travel with Bao Bao to China, adding that the animals spend 13 to 16 hours a day eating.

Bao Bao is scheduled to leave the zoo on Tuesday morning and travel to Washington Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia where she will board a special FedEx plane. Fans will be able to watch her departure from the zoo and airport on the zoo’s Facebook page.

Once Bao Bao arrives in Chengdu in Sichuan province, she will be driven to her new home, one of the bases run by the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda. Dearie will briefly remain with her while she gets adjusted. In time, when she reaches sexual maturity, between five and six years old, she will become part of a panda breeding programme. The National Zoo says Bao Bao is travelling now because it is better for pandas to travel in the winter months when it is cool.